Vape tastes like plastic?

[Quacky]

Hello

Started vaping a month ago and quit smoking a week back. Got an AL85 with Spirals tank (currently using the 0.3 ohm coil on 25-35watt, 3.2 volt - 30/70 and 20/80 fruity/cake juices by charlie chalk dust and pacha mama)

Recently my vape started tasting a lot like plastic in every drag after around 600 puffs. On my 0.6 it lasted 4500 puffs until it started tasting poorly. I've looked all over google as to what it might mean but they show essentially every problem you can possibly have with your vape so I figured I'd ask here before tossing this coil and dumping the juice.

I've tried ''priming the vape'' by just sucking on it without pushing the button and also tried closing the airflow but that didn't do a lot. Could anyone clarify whats happening?

Thanks in advance,
Quacky

PS bonus question: I've washed out my 0.6 coil and threw it in a bowl of water for a day then dried it, can I just use this one again? It's a little bit grey in the middle of the cotton.

 

[CatNoir]

maybe your ejuice is in plastic bottle to long it starts tasting like the bottle, i recommend only buying ejuice in glass bottles.

 

[EverythingEvil]

That grey color in the center of your wicks is most likely from the wicks scorching from improper wicking or too high of a power setting. If you are using a thick high VG juice that could also be a part of the issue especially if you chain vape allot. Tasting plastic isnt normally a good sign, check your tank and make sure you havent melted an o-ring somehow.

 

[Coyote628]

Drop in coils are not really reusable. They last about a week or so. When they start to taste bad, put in a fresh one. The gray color isnt necessarily scorched cotton. The wick discolors with use

 

[stols001]

Well, coil life depends on a lot of things. I really don't think it's the plastic bottle holding the juice, it's just a sign that your coil is starting to get gunked/burnt probably.

Things that kill coils: dark, sweet, colored gunky juices, too high VG content (sometimes) chain vaping, not enough airflow (you may want to open it, not close it off) etc.

Chain vaping can be a real killer, honestly. So, it could be a combination of all sorts of things. I'm not familiar with your coils, but some coils seem to have better longevity than others, depending on how they are designed, etc.

Good luck,

Anna

 

[Vapemesilly]

Could be that you have very sensitive taste buds. I think it's doubtful that you are actually tasting the juice bottle. I've had juice that tasted like soap. I know there was no soap in that juice but damn it tasted like soap. I let it sit for a month or so and it was fine. Things aren't always as they seem. My guess is the coil is dead.

 

[Letitia]

If you are chain vaping on just one tank that happens often. You just need a couple more tanks to switch out with throughout the day. You can pick up some Innokin Prism tanks pretty cheap.
You can clean and reuse coils. Before the flavor turns rinse in warm water and drop in a shot glass of cheap vodka or evercear for several hours and let air dry.

 

[jim_87]

More SMOK product problems...

The first thing I would do is take apart the tank piece by piece. Check all pieces for any damage/melting or defects. Clean the tank good and put a new coil in. If you still have the issues, try a different brand tank, and see if it still happens.

 

[Letitia]

Actually the Smok OG Spirals tank is pretty good, coil life is better than the beast line coils.

 

[jim_87]

Wonder if it is a bad batch of coils if the tank is decent.

 

[Letitia]

Wonder if it is a bad batch of coils if the tank is decent.

Possible, it is a Smok and qc isn't their top priority.

 

[dennism]

When a drop in coil goes bad you replace it. The plastic taste you are referring to could be the dreaded burnt hit. I know that my coil needs replacing when 1-the tank gets hotter than normal 2-air flow becomes more restrictive. I think these occur when the coil gets clogged, and #3, the dreaded dry, burnt hit. I do my best to avoid #3 at all costs. My advice give the tank a good cleaning and install a new coil.

 

[Coastal Cowboy]

Factory drop in coils are consumables. They have a finite life and what you describe is how it lets you know it's time for a fresh one.

You can extend their lives by cleaning them before they get to tasting nasty. I used to give mine a 30-minute boil. It gave them another few mils of life but the inevitable is... inevitable.

It's the wicking material and that fine layer of it that touches the actual metal of the coil that goes out on you. If you pull all of the stuff out of a coil head, you'll see what I mean. Part if it will be blackened and gooey.

 

[Baditude]

Back in the day, we used to boil our cartomizers in an attempt to get more use out of the polyfill wick material. I didn't do that for long, it just wasn't worth it.

To this day, I still save my used clearomizer coils, but I don't know why. Maybe I'm saving them for the vape appocolypse, who knows? I get a month's use out of my Crown coils. At $10 for a 5-pack, I get nearly half a year of use. Compared to what it cost me to smoke cigarettes, I'm getting away with murder.

I love to share this video with noobies, because I believe most do not properly prime their new coils or "break in" their new coils at all. I think this is extremely important to extend the life of your coils. The video is for the Crown tank, but the principles are relevant for whatever tank/coil you have.

 

[stols001]

I do the same thing with my spent coils. LOL, a bit of it is "vape hoarding" I guess. Still. you never know when you may have time on your hands (well, TBH they're nautilus coils for the most part, the husband would be rebuilding them, not me) in the vacopalypse bunker.

At least they're uh, small. LOL

Anna

 

[LewisW295]

I do the same thing with my spent coils. LOL, a bit of it is "vape hoarding" I guess. Still. you never know when you may have time on your hands (well, TBH they're nautilus coils for the most part, the husband would be rebuilding them, not me) in the vacopalypse bunker.

At least they're uh, small. LOL

Anna

I've got two tanks full of black juice where I dropped them on the spot for something else. My mini Nautilus actually has verdigris on it....

 

[BrotherBob]

Recently my vape started tasting a lot like plastic in every drag after around 600 puffs. On my 0.6 it lasted 4500 puffs until it started tasting poorly. I've looked all over google as to what it might mean but they show essentially every problem you can possibly have with your vape so I figured I'd ask here before tossing this coil and dumping the juice.
I've tried ''priming the vape'' by just sucking on it without pushing the button and also tried closing the airflow but that didn't do a lot. Could anyone clarify whats happening?

Welcome and glad you joined.
There may quite a few things going wrong for you from your problem description. Best suggestion I can recommend is to take a step back and reread/refresh:
Learn About Vaping Here - Everything Ecigs - From Beginner To Advanced
Vaping and Inhaling: Everything You Need To Know
https://spinfuel.com/new-vapers-start/
ECigarette Academy: Essential Need to Know for New Vapers
Beginner – Guide To Vaping
Vaping 101: Here's Everything You Need to Know about Vaping
6 Quick & Useful Vaping Tips for Beginners
https://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/f...up-the-vaping-ladder-with-egos-and-mods.5058/
https://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/f...nk-or-what-a-guide-to-juice-attachments.3230/

 

[Quacky]

Hey guys, thanks a lot for the advice. Wasn't expecting this much, it's awesome!

I threw in a new 0.3 coil using only transparant (30/70) pacha mama honeydew blend today and it worked perfectly for a few refills but as soon as i threw in some ethos crispy treats (light brown 30/70) suddenly it started giving dry hits on 35watt. Guy in the vape shop said those juices are pretty much the same thing when I went to buy some new 0.6 coils today.

Think I need a different tank for the ?thicker? darker juices? They don't seem thicker though. Any recommendations for different tanks?

Thanks,
Quacky

Edit: Oh eh, I just mixed in some honeydew again half half and its working properly again on most drags -.-

 

[Letitia]

Are you chain-vaping? Have tried a juice with higher pg? Spirals coil is smallish and af is restricted so lowering the vg may help.

 

[Quacky]

I'm usually taking 1-3 drags of around 2-5 seconds and then put it down for at the very least a minute. But usually the dry hit comes at the first hit and then I just quit and put it down and try to... fix it somehow... and fail.

Do you reckon the Smok TFV8 would do a better job with my current juices? I'm kind of scared to go for higher PG juices as I quit smoking using a vape pen a few years ago with PG juice and it always gave me such a horribly dry throat (that's why I quit vaping back then.... and the gear wasn't as good). I like the juices tastes and the vapour too (maybe a bit more cloud would be nice so I can practice some tricks... my O's aren't going anywhere)